THE MIRACLE AT FÁTIMA, PORTUGAL IN 1917

Fr. Mario Luigi Ciappi, papal theologian to Pope Pius XII: “In the Third Secret [of Fatima] it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top.” (1)

Saints Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta of Fatima

Above timeline Image by Santo Condestável

The message and miracle of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917 is one of the greatest events in the history of the Catholic Church. Since the miracle at Fatima, which occurred on Oct. 13, 1917, was predicted to take place in advance, and was fulfilled in the presence of almost 100,000 people, it’s probably the greatest miracle in Catholic history outside the Resurrection. The Fatima miracle and message also bear tremendous significance for our topic: The Truth about What Really Happened to the Catholic Church after Vatican II. Beginning on May 13, 1917, the Mother of God appeared six times to Jacinta (age 7), Francisco (age 9) and Lúcia (age 10) in Fatima, Portugal. The Blessed Virgin told the children to pray the Rosary every day; she showed them a vision of Hell; and she made prophecies about World War II and the expansion of Communism (“the errors of Russia”), among other things.

The Vision of Hell shown by Our Lady of Fatima to the children: “As the Lady spoke the last words, she opened Her hands once more, as She had done the two previous months. The rays [of light] appeared to penetrate the earth, and we saw, as it were, a vast sea of fire. Plunged in this fire, we saw the demons and the souls [of the damned]. The latter were like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, having human forms. They were floating about in that conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames which issued from within themselves, together with great clouds of smoke. Now they fell back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fright (it must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me). The demons were distinguished [from the souls of the damned] by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals. That vision only lasted for a moment, thanks to our good Heavenly Mother, Who at the first apparition had promised to take us to Heaven. Without that, I think that we would have died of terror and fear.”2

“You've seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them God wishes to establish in the world the devotion to my Immaculate Heart,” Our Lady said.

The First Secret of Fatima: Hell is a reality and most are condemned.

“As She spoke these last words, She opened Her hands once more, as She had done the two previous months. The rays [of light] appeared to penetrate the earth, and we saw as it were a sea of fire.

“Plunged in this fire we saw the demons and the souls [the damned]. The latter were like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, having human forms. They were floating about in that conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves, together with great clouds of smoke. Now they fell back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fright. (It must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me.

“The demons were distinguished [from the souls of the damned] by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals. That vision only lasted for a moment, thanks to our good Heavenly Mother, Who at the first apparition, had promised to take us to Heaven. Without that, I think that we would have died of terror and fear.”

Vision of Archdeacon of Lyons, who died the same day as St. Bernard (1153): "Know, Monsignor, that at the very hour I passed away, thirty-three thousand people also died. Out of this number, Bernard and myself went up to heaven without delay, three went to purgatory, and all the others fell into Hell." (Told to St. Vincent Ferrer)

“I looked up and read these words: 'The place of no reprieve.' I realized that we were at the gates of Hell. The guide led me all around this horrible place. At regular distance bronze portals like the first overlooked precipitous descents; on each was an inscription, such as: 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels.' (Matthew 25: 41) 'Every tree that yielded not good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire.' (Matthew 7: 19) “I tried to copy them into my notebook, but my guide restrained me: 'There is no need. You have them all in Holy Scripture. You even have some of them inscribed in your porticoes.'“'Bad companions, bad books, and bad habits,' my guide exclaimed, 'are mainly responsible for so many eternally lost.' “'The nourishment thereof is fire and much wood: the breath of the Lord as a torrent of brimstone kindling it.'” (Isaias 30: 33) “'Here time is no more. Here is only eternity.'”

“The mutability of the past is the central tenet of Ingsoc. Past events, it is argued, have no objective existence, but survive only in written records and in human memories. The past is whatever the records and the memories agree upon. And since the Party is in full control of all records and in equally full control of the minds of its members, it follows that the past is whatever the Party chooses to make it. It also follows that though the past is alterable, it never has been altered in any specific instance.” - George Orwell's 1984, page 124

“Nicholas of Nice, speaking of the fire of Hell, says that nothing on earth could give an idea of it. He adds that if all the trees of the forests were cut down, piled into a vast heap and set on fire, this terrible pile would not be a spark of Hell.” (Hell, p. 52)

Apocalypse 2:6 (1582 D-R): But this thou hast, “because thou hatest the facts” of the Nicolaites, which I also hate.

The Fatima children shortly after the vision of Hell… one can see in their terrified countenances the truth of their words: that they would have died of fright at the vision of Hell if they had not been promised Heaven

On July 13, 1917, Our Lady also told the children that on Oct. 13, 1917 she would work a miracle that all would have to believe:

Lúcia said, ‘I wish to ask you to tell us who you are, and to perform a miracle so that everyone will believe that you have appeared to us!’

‘Continue to come here every month,’ answered the Lady. ‘In October I will tell you who I am and what I wish, and will perform a miracle that everyone will have to believe.’”(Our Lady of Fatima, July 13, 1917) (3)

Since the children had announced months in advance of Oct. 13 that the Lady would work a miracle, 70,000 to 100,000 people gathered at Fatima on Oct. 13 to see the miracle that was predicted to take place. There were also many nonbelievers who came to scoff when the predicted miracle didn’t occur. However, as even the secular press confirmed, the Miracle of the Sun – as it’s now known – did occur, just as it was predicted by the children and by Our Lady of Fatima. It stunned the gathered multitude, converted hardened unbelievers, including atheists and Freemasons, and confirmed thousands in the Catholic Faith.

Above: two pictures of the stunned crowd at Fatima on Oct. 13, 1917 witnessing the predicted miracle by Our Lady of Fatima

What was the Miracle of the Sun that so stunned and converted the enraptured audience of 70,000-plus at Fatima on Oct. 13, 1917? A brief examination of the miracle and its significance will go a long way in revealing: The Truth about What Really Happened to the Catholic Church after Vatican II.

“The sun stood forth in the clear zenith like a great silver disk which, though bright as any sun they had ever seen, they could look straight at without blinking, and with a unique and delightful satisfaction. This lasted but a moment. While they gazed, the huge ball began to ‘dance’ – that was the word all the beholders applied to it. Now it was whirling rapidly like a gigantic fire-wheel. After doing this for some time, it stopped. Then it rotated again, with dizzy, sickening speed. Finally there appeared on the rim a border of crimson, which flung across the sky, as from a hellish vortex, blood-red streamers of flame, reflecting to the earth, to the trees and shrubs, to the upturned faces and the clothes all sorts of brilliant colors in succession: green, red, orange, blue, violet, the whole spectrum in fact. Madly gyrating in this manner three times, the fiery orb seemed to tremble, to shudder, and then to plunge precipitately, in a mighty zigzag, toward the crowd.

“A fearful cry broke from the lips of thousands of terrified persons as they fell upon their knees, thinking the end of the world had come.”

Some said that the air became warmer at that instant; they would not have been surprised if everything about them had burst into flames, enveloping and consuming them.”4

“All over Portugal, in fact, the anti-clerical press was compelled to bear witness of the same sort. There was general agreement on the essentials. As Dr. Domingo Pinto Coelho wrote in O Ordem, ‘The sun, sometimes surrounded with crimson flames, at other times aureoled with yellow and red, at still other times seemed to revolve with a very rapid movement of rotation, still again seeming to detach itself from the sky, to approach the earth…’”5

During the miracle the sun was seen to be speeding toward the earth and the people thought the end of the world had come. The significance should be obvious: Fatima was an apocalyptic sign; it was a sign that the end was near, that the events which would precede the culmination of the world and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ were to begin. Men must amend their lives before the end of the world really came.

Based on some of these considerations, many have concluded that Our Lady of Fatima is the woman clothed with the sun described in chapter 12:1 of the Apocalypse:

“And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Apocalypse 12:1)

The Fatima seers also reported that Our Lady was made all of light – she was more brilliant than the sun. The evidence is very strong that Our Lady of Fatima was the woman clothed with the sun prophesied in the Apocalypse, chapter 12. In fact, there is a stunning confirmation that Our Lady’s appearance at Fatima was the fulfillment of the prophecy in the Apocalypse about the woman clothed with the sun.

The Masonic Daily Paper, O Seculo, stunningly confirms without even knowing it that Our Lady was the woman clothed with the sun of the Apocalypse 12:1

The Miracle of the Sun worked by Our Lady of Fatima was reported by anti-Catholic papers throughout Portugal. The liberal, Masonic and anti-clerical daily of Lisbon, O Seculo, had its Editor in Chief, Avelino de Almeida, on hand to report on the event. To his credit, he honestly reported on the solar prodigy. What we want to draw to your attention is the title of his article which was published in O Seculo on Oct. 15, 1917. Giving an account of the extraordinary event at Fatima on Oct. 13, his article in O Seculo of October 15 was entitled:

“How the sun danced in broad daylight at Fatima. The apparitions of the Virgin. – The sign of Heaven. – Thousands declare it a miracle. – War and peace.’’(6)

Please notice that the Masonic, anti-clerical daily of Lisbon described the event of Fatima and the Miracle of the Sun as “The sign of Heaven.” Does that sound familiar?

Apocalypse 12:1- “And a great sign appeared in Heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”

Are we to believe that the Masonic newspaper of Lisbon had Apocalypse 12:1 in mind when publishing this article shortly after the solar prodigy in 1917? Were the anti-clericals considering the possibility that Our Lady’s appearance constituted the woman clothed with the sun and the “sign of Heaven” described in the Bible? Of course not; not even Catholics at that time had connected Fatima with the woman clothed with the sun, let alone the anti-clericals who didn’t even believe in Sacred Scripture or probably didn’t even know about the prophecy in Apoc. 12:1! This headline, therefore, is an unknowing confirmation, by a public and anti-Catholic source, that Our Lady of Fatima and her miracle on Oct. 13 were indeed the sign prophesied in Apocalypse 12:1!

This stunning fact not only serves to confirm that Our Lady of Fatima is the woman clothed with the sun of Apoc. 12:1, but also further confirms the authenticity of the Catholic Faith and Sacred Scripture.

Therefore, to finally round out our point about Fatima and its relevance to what has happened to the Catholic Church after Vatican II, we can say: since Fatima was the sign prophesied in Apoc. 12:1, this means that we are in the Apocalyptic era, the last days of the world.

Fatima, the sign of Apoc. 12:1, and the great red dragon (Communism), the sign of Apoc. 12:3, both come on the scene in 1917

Lending further support to the idea that Fatima was the “sign” of Apocalypse 12:1 is the fact that the Apocalypse speaks of the “great red dragon” just two verses later. Scripture seems to indicate that the two will come on the scene at the same time.

Apocalypse 12:3- “And there was seen another sign in Heaven: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns: and on his heads seven diadems: And his tail drew the third part of the stars of Heaven, and cast them to the Earth…”

Many commentators consider the “great red dragon” to be Communism, since Communism is undeniably associated with red, and was responsible for the murder of over 20 million people in Russia alone. Under Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks took over Russia for Communism – gaining the significant victory which would make Communism a world power – on Nov. 7, 1917, immediately after the appearances of Our Lady in Fatima, which had warned of the spread of “the errors of Russia.” (7) Even today we speak of Communist China as “Red China.” The Communist revolution in China was launched in celebratory fashion by men with “Enormous red banners, tens of thousands of red flags, and masses of red balloons flew over them.” (8) The evidence that the “great red dragon” describes the Communist Empire is quite strong.

It’s also very interesting that the great red dragon drew the third part of the stars of Heaven: Apocalypse 12:3- “And there was seen another sign in Heaven: and behold a great red dragon… And his tail drew the third part of the stars of Heaven, and cast them to the Earth…”

Is it just a coincidence that Communism, at its height, held a third of the world in its grasp?

Warren H. Carroll, The Rise and Fall of the Communist Revolution, p. 418: “As Joseph Stalin walked into the Valley of the Shadow of Death, the international communist movement which he led held a third of the world in its grasp.” (9)

Jacinta Marto

born 1910, died 1920

Jacinta Marto was one of the three original visionaries at Fatima, Portugal in 1917. She was born in 1910 and died in 1920. In both 1935 and 1951 her body was exhumed and in each instance, her body was found to be incorrupt. The Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima was built on the site where the three children first saw "a lady brighter than the sun" and Jacinta's tomb has remained there since 1951.

“Our Lady can no longer uphold the arm of her Divine Son which will strike the world. If people amend their lives, Our Lord will even now save the world, but if they do not, punishment will come..”

1921: Original Fatima Chapel Bombed by Freemasons

Months passed, and there began to be new rumors that the statue was to be stolen and the chapel burned down. So we thought it would be better to take the statue to my home and bring it to the chapel every morning. It must have been about the end of October, when my husband brought Our Lady to our home in Moita. We arranged a little altar in the sitting room, and put the statue on it with two oil lamps burning.

We were perfectly right to be afraid, for on March 6 of the next year we heard a terrible explosion during the night. The Freemasons had placed four bombs in the chapel, and a fifth by the tree where Our Lady appeared. The roof was blown off, but the bomb by the tree did not explode. More of the story here.

Sister Lúcia of Fatima told Fr. Fuentes in 1957 that we are in the last times

One of the three visionaries of Fatima, Sr. Lúcia, told Fr. Fuentes in 1957:

“Father, the Most Holy Virgin did not tell me that we are in the last times of the world but she made me understand this for three reasons. The first reason is because she told me that the Devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Virgin. And a decisive battle is the final battle where one side will be victorious and the other side will suffer defeat. Hence from now on we must choose sides. Either we are for God or we are for the Devil. There is no other possibility.

“The second reason is because she said to my cousins as well as to myself that God is giving two last remedies to the world. These are the Holy Rosary and Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of (Our Lady). These are the last two remedies which signify that there will be no others.

“The third reason is because in the plans of Divine Providence, God always, before He is about to chastise the world, exhausts all other remedies. Now, when He sees that the world pays no attention whatsoever then, as we say in our imperfect manner of speaking, He offers us with a certain trepidation the last means of salvation, His Most Holy Mother. It is with a certain trepidation because if you despise and repulse this ultimate means we will not have any more forgiveness from Heaven because we will have committed a sin which the Gospel calls the sin against the Holy Ghost. This sin consists of openly rejecting with full knowledge and consent, the salvation which He offers. Let us remember that Jesus Christ is a very good Son and that He does not permit that we offend and despise His Most Holy Mother. We have recorded through many centuries of Church history the obvious testimony which demonstrates, by the terrible chastisements which have befallen those who have attacked the honor of His Most Holy Mother, how Our Lord Jesus Christ has always defended the honor of His Mother.” (10)

As discussed already, the main feature of the end times is an apostasy from the Catholic Faith. In “the holy place” itself (Rome) there will be “the abomination of desolation” (Mt. 24:15), and a deception so profound that, if it were possible, even the elect would be deceived (Mt. 24:24). The New Testament tells us that this deception will happen in the very heart of the Church’s physical structures, in “the Temple of God” (2 Thess. 2:4). It will arise because people receive not the love of the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10). That is precisely why the very last words that Our Lady of Fatima gives us in the great secret of July 13, 1917 are:

“In Portugal the dogma of Faith will always be preserved, etc.”

These are the last words given before the undisclosed third secret of Fatima. From this scholars of Fatima have concluded that the third secret undoubtedly deals with a massive spiritual crisis and apostasy from the Catholic Faith among those who purport to hold positions of authority in the Church.

Since we don’t have the complete sentence of Our Lady’s last words of the July message, we cannot say for sure what they mean; but the sentence could be: “In Portugal the dogma of Faith will always be preserved in a faithful remnant …” Or: “In Portugal the dogma of Faith will always be preserved until the Great Apostasy…” Or: “In Portugal the dogma of Faith will always be preserved among those who heed my warnings…” The third secret undoubtedly deals with the present apostasy of the Vatican II sect. We will document this apostasy in great detail in this book.

As cited at the beginning of this section,“Fr.” Mario Luigi Ciappi, the papal theologian to Pope Pius XII, stated:

“In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top.” (11)

Another “cardinal” of the Vatican II Church incredibly admitted that the Third Secret deals with the post-Vatican II apostasy.

“Cardinal” Silvio Oddi:“… the Third Secret [of Fatima]… is not about a supposed conversion of Russia…. but regards the ‘revolution’ in the Catholic Church.” (12)

Testimonies that Heaven asked that the third secret of Fatima be revealed by 1960 at the latest (13)

ƒ Canon Galamba: “When the bishop refused to open the letter, Lucy made him promise that it would definitely be opened and read to the world either at her death or in 1960, whichever would come first.” (La Verdad sobre el Secreto de Fatima, Fr. Joaquín Alonso, Spanish Edition, pp. 46-47)

ƒ John Haffert: “At the bishop’s house (in Leiria), I sat at the table on his right, with the four Canons. During that first dinner, Canon Jose Galamba de Oliveira turned to me when the bishop had left the room momentarily and asked: “Why don’t you ask the bishop to open the Secret?” Endeavoring not to show my ignorance concerning Fatima—which at that time was almost complete—I simply looked at him without expression. He continued: “The bishop can open the Secret. He doesn’t have to wait until 1960.” (Dear Bishop! John Haffert, AMI 1981, pp. 3-4)

ƒ Cardinal Cerejeira: In February 1960 the Patriarch of Lisbon reported the directions which the Bishop of Leiria “has passed on to him” on the subject of the Third Secret: “Bishop da Silva enclosed (the envelope sealed by Lucy) in another envelope on which he indicated that the letter had to be opened in 1960 by himself, Bishop Jose Correia da Silva, if he was still alive, or if not, by the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon.” (Novidades, February 24, 1960, quoted by La Documentation catholique, June 19, 1960, col. 751)

ƒ Canon Barthas: During his conversations with Sister Lucy on October 17-18, 1946, he had the opportunity to question her on the Third Secret. He writes: “When will the third element of the Secret be revealed to us?” Already in 1946, to this question Lucy and the Bishop of Leiria answered me uniformly, without hesitation and without comment: “In 1960.” And when I pushed my audacity so far as to ask why it was necessary to wait until then, the only response I received from either one was: “Because the Blessed Virgin wishes it so.” (Barthas, Fatima, merveille du XXe siecle,

p. 83. Fatima-editions, 1952)

ƒ The Armstrongs: On May 14, 1953, Lucy received a visit from the Armstrongs, who were able to question her on the third Secret. In their account published in 1955, they confirmed that the third Secret “had to be opened and divulged in 1960.” (A. O. Armstrong, Fatima, pilgrimage to peace, The

World’s Work, Kingswood, Surrey, 1955)

ƒ Cardinal Ottaviani: On May 17, 1955, Cardinal Ottaviani, Pro-Prefect of the Holy Office, came to the Carmel of Saint Teresa at Coimbra. He interrogated Lucy on the third Secret; and in his conference of 1967 recalled: “The message was not to be opened before 1960. I asked Sister Lucy, ‘Why this date?’ She answered, ‘Because then it will seem clearer (mais claro).’” (La Documentation catholique, March 19, 1967, col. 542)

ƒ Father Joaquín Alonso, official archivist of Fatima: “Other bishops also spoke—and with authority—about the year 1960 as the date indicated for opening the famous letter. Thus, when the then titular Bishop of Tiava, and Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon asked Lucy when the Secret was to be opened, he always received the same answer: in 1960.” (La Verdad sobre el Secreto de Fatima, Fr. Joaquín Alonso, Spanish Edition, p. 46)

ƒ Father Joaquín Alonso: “When Don Jose, the first Bishop of Leiria, and Sister Lucy agreed that the letter was to be opened in 1960, they obviously meant that its contents should be made public for the good of the Church and the world.” (ibid., p. 54)

ƒ Bishop Venancio: “I think that the letter will not be opened before 1960. Sister Lucy had asked that it should not be opened before her death, or not before 1960. We are now in 1959 and Sister Lucy is in good health.” (La Verdad sobre el Secreto de Fatima, Fr. Joaquín Alonso, Spanish Edition, p. 46)

ƒ Father Fuentes: Father Fuentes interviewed Sister Lucy on December 26, 1957, who told him: “Father, the Most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid attention to Her Message, neither the good nor the bad. The good continue on their way but without giving any importance to Her Message… I am still not able to give any other details because it is still a secret. According to the will of the Most Holy Virgin, only the Holy Father and the Bishop of Fatima are permitted to know the Secret, but they have chosen not to know it so that they would not be influenced. This is the third part [third Secret] of the Message of Our Lady which will remain secret until 1960.” (La Verdad sobre el Secreto de Fatima, Fr. Joaquín Alonso, Spanish Edition, p. 103-104)

ƒ F. Stein: “The testimonies which have announced the revelation of the Secret for 1960 are of such weight and so numerous that in our opinion, even if the ecclesiastical authorities of Fatima [in 1959 the experts themselves were still unaware that Rome had taken the Secret from the Bishop of Leiria over two years previously] had not yet resolved to publish the Secret in 1960, they would now see themselves forced to do so by the circumstances.” (Mensagem de Fatima, July-August, 1959)

ƒ Father Dias Coelho: “… we can use, as an unquestionable fact, this assertion of Dr. Galamba de Oliveira (in 1953) in Fatima, Altar do Mundo: ‘The third part of the Secret was sealed in the hands of His Grace the Bishop of Leiria, and will be opened either after the seer’s death or at the latest in 1960.’” (L’Homme Nouveau, No. 269, November 22, 1959)

All testimonies and statements reveal clearly that Heaven wanted the third secret of Fatima revealed to the whole world no later than 1960, because it would be clearer then.

Why would the third secret of Fatima be clearer in 1960?

It was on Jan. 25, 1959 that John XXIII announced that he had a special inspiration to suddenly call a new ecumenical council. (Jan. 25, by the way, was the same day on which the unknown light that illuminated the world prior to World War II lit up the skies of Europe. This unknown light that appeared on Jan. 25, 1938 was predicted by Our Lady of Fatima as a warning that God was going to punish the world with the things that were revealed in the second part of the secret. Was the fact that John XXIII called Vatican II on a Jan. 25 a warning about the coming punishment described in the third secret?)

This council called by John XXIII in 1959 would turn out to be Vatican II, the disastrous results of which are the subject of this book. Is the calling of this council in 1959 the reason that Our Blessed Mother requested the third secret of Fatima to be revealed by 1960? Was she directly warning us of the apostasy that would result from this council, which truly gave birth to a new, phony Counter-Catholic Church, as we will see in this book? Truly, the only major sign that had occurred by 1960, in regard to the tremendous apostasy we are now living through that would makes things “clearer,” was that John XXIII had announced his intention to call a new council in 1959. In our view, it’s quite obvious that the third secret of Fatima deals with the apostasy resulting from a false council; otherwise the third secret wouldn’t make more sense in 1960, as Our Blessed Mother said it would.

Endnotes for Section 3:

(1) Ciappi’s personal communication to a Professor Baumgartner in Salzburg, cited in The Devil’s Final Battle, compiled by Paul Kramer, Good Counsel Publications, 2002; also cited by Father Gerard Mura, “The Third Secret of Fatima: Has It Been Completely Revealed?”, the periodical Catholic (published by the Transalpine Redemptorists, Orkney Isles, Scotland, Great Britain), March 2002.